Tripping Over Typeset

Home again, home again, jiggity jig….and all Matt can say is:  “Mom, I love it when you’re always home!”

Dave is liking me home, too!  Now, he has someone to bring him coffee and make hot cinnamon raisin toast in the morning.  (And yes, he likes me for more reasons than that… like dishes and laundry! 🙂 No, really…He is pretty awesome!  I came home to a clean house, no laundry, no dishes and flowers at the airport!  So yeah, he’s amazing!

Seattle was great and I promised some pics and stories so here we go!

Besides the fact the computers were down at the Ithaca airport last Thursday morning making us late to Detroit and then running through the airport to Terminal C and hearing…”Last boarding call for Seattle Flight blah, blah, blah”   Besides that fact— the airport travel was pretty uneventful, safe and satisfying — just the way we like it!

On landing, we could tell we weren’t in New York anymore.   The customer service was welcoming and helpful and all the friendly cashiers called us “sweetie” or “honey.” (That would be sexual harassment over here, but there it was just down-home kindness.)

Visiting Northwest University opened a new door of discovery in God’s goodness to His kiddos.  This place is right up Sammy’s alley and I couldn’t have chosen a better place for her.  God has a way of directing our children’s journey and it’s a great adventure watching them discover a new place on that map.

It’s like Christmas, when we, as parents, plan a surprise gift for our children.  We are excited for those big smiles and exuberant joy that comes with giving a present we have prepared for them and knowing they will love it because it’s just for them.

That’s what it was like this weekend.  It was an unwrapping of this great adventure God has planned for Sam— a plan with years in the making.  I imagine Him smiling as she begins unwrapping.

I left you all last time with sadness—a mother crying because her little one is leaving.  Yet as I thought more about it, the sadness wasn’t just that she was leaving but a sadness that it went so f–a–s–t–!!!  And all parents ahead of me in this parent journey know exactly what I’m talking about.

I’m proud of her and where she is going in life.  I’m proud of the job Dave and I have done in raising her.  And if I could, I would re-live those early years of no sleep and car seat hauling just for more time.  But alas, that’s not possible so I took my hubby’s advice… I wiped those tears away, put on my big girl pants and went for some fun and memory-making!

At the top of the Space Needle. It was abnormally sunny for our trip!

The locals rub her snout for good luck—I went for extra luck and puckered up!

Sam says: Yuck—Disgusting—Don’t Touch
Mom says: You can’t come to the gum wall & not add a piece!

We have many more photos and many more memories from this weekend…too many for this blog post! But my take-away from the weekend is:  Seattle is a beautiful place and will be an amazing home for Sam. 

By Monday evening, my mommy-mind and emotions were in a much better place.  God has a way of settling our hearts and bringing peace.  (A BIG THANK YOU to those praying for me as I emotionally processed all this!)

One big Mommy concern was holidays and her being alone.  Yet again, God answered!  Sam has already been invited over to 3 different homes for Thanksgiving and I have 2 other been-there/done-that-moms on campus looking out for her!  This brings peace to this mama’s heart!  —A good home for my girl while away from this home.

We have now returned to the comforts of our home in the east.

Returned to cuddling on my bed with the whole brood, watching Duck Dynasty reruns, eating Five Guys for dinner, and sleeping with fleece sheets during this polar-vortex-artic-climate…now that’s some pretty awesome stuff!!

But nothing beats the welcome home of…. “M–O–M–M–Y–!!!” 

Nothing beats that!!  ~  There’s no place like home!